Famed explorer Will Steger says Governor Pawlenty may join him on a trip to the Arctic in a mission to better understand climate change.

Steger is setting off for the northernmost tip of the Canadian Arctic in the spring. He says after months of meetings and discussion, he and Pawlenty are close to finalizing arrangements for the governor to join the expedition.

Pawlenty says nothing has been confirmed but that he is discussing the possibility of meeting up with Steger for several days in May.

Steger says Pawlenty wants to see the Arctic and its melting ice caps first hand. He says the governor is serious about the issue of climate change.

Tomorrow, Pawlenty and Steger are hosting a forum in Duluth on the effect of climate change on Lake Superior.

Many have speculated that Tim Pawlenty might be a candidate for VP next year. He has steadfastly denied that he has any designs on the office. Now that he has come out in favor of the SCHIP program and now is on board with global warming, as well, he just might be eyeing the number two slot. Especially if Al Gore does decide to run.........

I’m here and I do welcome it. We’re the next new vacation spot if it continues to stay warmer here. We have all of the beautiful lakes and cabins. And with the value of the dollar falling, Canadians will be spending their money here.

wow, no better time to see ice melting in the arctic than in late spring early summer...Im getting ready to go back to work up in Prudhoe Bay, and as of LAST summer, the ice was never out of sight on the northern most coast of the state of Alaska. The summer before you couldnt see the ice from the coast with the naked eye. Id advise Mr. Goodnpawlenty to take another fact finding trip up in late December/early January. Hopefully he will leave his long johns at home...What a dork...

No kidding! I hope they have to save his taxpayers money spending ass like the last well known Minnesotan (Ann Bancroft)to travel to the North Pole earlier this year. She went to prove the earth was warming and instead their group was rescued because they were suffering from frostbite and worried about freezing to death.

Pawlenty is an embarrassement and I can’t believe I saw this guy as an actual torch holder for the conservative movement going forward when he first took office. At this point he’s nothing but a petty con man.

C’mon Tim it hasn’t even been a year since the last rebuttal of this enviro crap!

I dunno, I think that if I was one of his constituents in Minnesota, I welcome a little global warming.

Now you're on to something. I've lived in Minnesota most of my life. I've had this discussion I don't know how many times, often with liberals who are Druids are heart. When the issue arises I usually torque their jaws with a series of speculations and statements: 1) The jury is still out on the entire subject of global warming. 2) If it really exists, we aren't sure if it's caused by man or not. 3) If it's real, we think that may even be a good thing.

Ergo, we don't need to destroy our economy fighting it until we discover the answers to these things.

The coup de gras is always, re global warming, "I grew up in Minnesota, so I favor it.

And what if the ice "caps" they see aren't melting when they get there?

Let me assure you that they will see melting ice "caps". I went on a trip to the Arctic before global warming was a "cause". The scientists showed us the "footprints" of the ice cover. The ice grows and recedes in a cyclic fashion. They could easily plan a trip that would only show melting ice (or, conversely, growing ice).

I've been wondering if the same trip would include the same balanced view, but one trip to the Arctic is enough. :-)

Will Steger was the head of an interesting polar expedition back in the 1980s for National Geographic magazine. It was done under conditions and using equipment that were nearly identical to what Peary had at his disposal back in 1909 -- to see whether the trip Peary made could have been done under those conditions.

Steger lives up the woods along the Canadian border near Ely, Minnesota. I was up there a couple of years ago, and the guy who worked for the outfitter for my trip said Steger was a good explorer but a complete A-hole to local residents. LOL.

As for the Governor, he's a McCain supporter. Which tells you all you should need to know.

Funny thing is Pawlenty has been a decent Republican governor for the most part. He came to office with about a $2 billion deficit in the budget. He forced the legislature to close it without a tax increase.

Whenever it calls for the state to pay lip service to abortion, he has been steadfastly pro life, unless he has sneaked in some changes that I've missed.

He has been soundly pro military and pro second amendment.

His early veer to liberalism was his support of this boondoggle we like to call light rail. Because of most of his other stances, I even tried to overlook that.

The problem is, lately he has been growing in his job. Whenever a high politician grows in his job, grab your wallet. The McCain thing is small potatoes by comparison. Heck, I could make a case for supporting McCain. The only reason I can't is he has shoved his thumb into the eyes of conservatives on the most salient issues in the last decade.

I'm not sure what Pawlenty is trying to do. Maybe he really does want to run for VP. I just hope the top nomination goes to the guy who studies Jindal before it's too late.

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